Things Go Wrong

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**Request for MeMumsCarVroom where Peter gets left behind on a mission and things go very, very wrong. This is like... light angst. Very light. It's kinda more funny than anything, lol, I guess I'm in a light mood. Anyways, enjoy!**

Tony checked on the teen again before they left, poking his head through the bedroom door with a smile.

"Still good?"

"Don't you have to leave?" Peter asked. Tony just shrugged. "I'm fine, Dad."

"I could stay if you wanted. Or Natasha could. Or also probably one of the guys."

"I'm fine, Dad, it's a two day mission! It's two days and I am 16 years old! I can look after myself."

Tony put up his hands in defense. "Okay, okay, I get it. No wild parties, okay?"

Peter rolled his eyes.

"We'll be back soon." Tony held open his arms, inviting Peter for a hug. The teen wrapped his arms around his dad's middle, squeezing just a little. "I love you."

"Love you, too."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peter's lights flickered a little. It was strange that the lights would flicker, especially given the Penthouse was one of the highest priority areas in the Tower and therefore was one of the last places to be effected by electrical shortages. It would take an entire shutdown of the reactor in the basement for the Penthouse to go dark.

And yet, not a minute after the first flicker, the lights went off. Peter squinted in the dark, his eyes trying to adjust.

"FRIDAY?" No response. That was really bad news.

The teen carefully moved to the wall and crawled up to the ceiling. If there was one thing he'd learned as a superhero, it was that in the dark, no one thought to check the ceilings.

Footsteps.

Shadows passed under the door.

The locked creaked.

Men. One woman.

And then everything went black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony wasn't expecting balloons or some welcome home party from his son, but... a ransom note was a bit unorthodox.

"Guys," Tony said, his hands shaking as he picked up the note. The team rushed over, hoping it was a clue as to what was going on with Peter.

Natasha recognized it almost immediately and snatched it out of Tony's hands. "What are they asking for?"

"Money. It's always money."

"So pay them!" Steve said. "Pay them and it'll all be over."

Natasha shook her head. "No, it won't be. This wasn't professional, guys. This was someone throwing a wrench into the reactor and then gassing the penthouse. They want money, not the Iron Suit or Tony's connections. They'll take the money and keep asking for more."

Tony whimpered a little.

"So what do we do?" Steve asked as he grabbed the note and read over it. "Do we give them the money, or do we call the police, or do-"

Clint laughed. "The police. Jesus, Steve, we aren't incompetent."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "We bug some cash. Leave it at the drop spot. Follow it back to their little base."

So that's exactly what they did. Natasha's plan was perfect. The money was tracked back to a house, believe it or not, and they made a note of the address. Within an hour, there was another demand for money. The team suited up and headed out to the house, Tony practically bouncing with nervous energy. He just wanted his son back.

It was a pretty nice house, actually. It was well cared-for and situated in a nice neighborhood and the lawn was cut and clean.

"You think Karen of the HOA kidnapped Peter?" Clint joked.

The team wasn't very worried about the kidnappers being armed or prepared for a head on attack, so they simply stormed through the front doors.

"What is- Who are you people?!" There was an older woman in the kitchen, her hands full with a casserole. She promptly dropped it and the dish shattered.

Tony didn't even respond. "Peter? Peter!"

There was a muffled thump from downstairs and the team raced away. There was a basement, dark and cold, and Peter was tied to a chair. Tony hurriedly untied him.

"This is just rope."

"I know," the teen said.

"You could have broken out any time you wanted."

"I know," the teen said.

Tony started laughing, and soon Peter joined in. Then Natasha. Then Clint and Sam and Thor. And soon the whole team was laughing hysterically as Tony pulled Peter down out of the chair and into his arms.

"Dad," Peter said quickly, his laughter dying and his face going serious. Tony turned. There, by the stairs, was a young man and a woman, holding hands.

"How did you find us?" the man asked.

Natasha jerked her head over to the duffel of money they'd given them the first time. "Tracker."

"Hey, wait, do I know you?" Tony stepped closer to the man and his girlfriend. "Yeah! Yeah! You worked at the Tower! You were a researcher, your girlfriend was a secretary."

The billionaire got closer to the pair, peering at them through narrowed eyes. "You were fired. You were stealing supplies from the lab and selling it."

The man had the good sense to look ashamed, but his girlfriend was more brazen. "So what? You fired us for no reason at all."

"I'm pretty sure the term is 'embezzlement'." Steve stepped forward.

Natasha leaned over to Tony. "Does he know what that means?" Tony shook his head.

The two were arrested and they ratted out their other friends who helped them as soon as the cops flashed a badge. The team rounded up their money, and their kid, and everyone headed back to the Tower, happy to be done with the whole thing.

"I hate being kidnapped," Peter admitted as everyone rode up the elevator. "Its getting less and less scary and more and more comical."

Tony chuckled and pulled his son into his side for a hug. "I know, bambino, it's getting pretty ridiculous."

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